Five tips on team management

Managing a team isn’t easy. In fact management, in general, is pretty tough – that is why so many people are bad at it! It can be hard for Assistants to juggle managing a team of other Assistants or Administrators (which is often the case) and support their Executive. It’s not an easy role. If you are new to managing staff along with your Assistant position. Here are five tips that will help you manage your team more effectively.

Five tips on team management

Collaborate with your team. This means that you delegate tasks to every member of the team. Including tasks that will allow them to shine. You want to delegate a variety of tasks so that they feel challenged and motivated. Collaboration also means that you foster a sense of trust, through open and honest communication and by arranging regular 1:1 meetings where you can both give feedback on what is and isn’t working.

Help your team to grow. Your success should be their success, that is the mark of a great manager. When you also have the role of making your Executive success, this is of course hard work. But, when managing a team, you have to help them to grow and succeed. How do you do this? Get to know them, on both a personal and professional level. Understand the motivation in their lives so that you can help them achieve their goals. Be the person that removes obstacles for them, the person they can turn to for sound advice and the person that challenges them to step out of their comfort zone.

Communicate clearly with your team. Open and honest communication is essential as a manager. Being able to communicate clearly and effectively makes or breaks a manager. Make sure that you are transparent and fair with your team. They need to know that they can come to you and have those awkward and difficult conversations. Try to be as open as you can. As you are also Assistant to an Executive this can be hard but you also have the privileged position of being close to those in charge so where you can disseminate the information you have with your team regularly.

Know your team’s strengths and weaknesses. Every member of your team has unique skills that make them stand out. They will also have areas that need improvement. You need to work to their strengths while building their weak areas and providing training where you can. If you can, conduct a strengths and weaknesses team building test (Myers Briggs, Discovery Works etc.), these tests help you as a Manager work out how best to place tasks with each of your team members and how your team can work together and with you.

Foster relationships with your team outside of work. Every once in a while take your team out for drinks. Even if you have a small budget, take them out for a coffee so that you can discuss work in a more casual setting. Creating a comfortable environment for people to get to know each other and to know you do make a difference in how your team will communicate with each other.

Master your Key Skills

As an Assistant, we know you are being pulled in all directions, so our ‘Master your Key Skills‘ online course will help you build your key skills, the tasks that make you stand out above the crowd and be seen as a real business asset within your Organisation. Sessions include: